Think the Moto G is cheap? Get ready for a $50 Motorola smartphone

Motorola caught the tech media’s attention when it unveiled the surprisingly capable Moto G smartphone for just $179 off contract. That comparatively tiny fee brings buyers a 4.5-inch display with 720p HD resolution, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of storage and a 5-megapixel camera, all wrapped in a reasonably attractive case. But $179 is still a bit pricey in emerging markets where industry watchers are still expecting growth, so Motorola plans to limbo even lower.

“In much of the world $179 is a lot of money so there’s a big market at a price point of less than $179,” Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside told TrustedReviews. “We’re going to look at that and just delivering on that value promise is super important. I mean why can’t these devices be $50? There’s no reason that can’t happen so we’re going to push that.”

Woodside didn’t provide any additional details on the company’s future budget lineup, though he did assure the blog that the low end won’t be Motorola’s only focus.

“On the more premium side we’re pushing more customisation,” he said. “Today you have colours and beginning of materials but you don’t have screen size and you don’t have functionality and we’re going to bring all that in in [sic] the next year or so.”